My original ghds lasted 11 years! Inherited friends purchased in 2007 and still going strong! If you have thick / frizzy hair then i do think they are still a cut above, plus their customer service is excellent. I've had Remingtons in the past which did a decent job too, but for me ghds are the best.

My hairdresser said that Cloud 9 are the best now. It's a new company started by the team behind GHD, apparently the new GHDs aren't nearly as good quality as they used to be...I'm still using my old GHDs though!

I have very curly hair and straighteners are as essential to me as air and water. I have tried many different brands, and I think GHD's are overrated and very overpriced. I had 3 month old GHDs blow up on me several years ago on holiday in Oman. Left me stuck with the most monstrous hair for the rest of the holiday as straighteners weren't something you could buy in Oman back then. Those were my 3rd lot of GHD's and since then I've tried others and liked them just as much.